No Bake Blackberry & Chia Peanut Butter Oat Bars with Chocolate Drizzle

Well, that's a name, isn't it? Don't get me wrong, this recipe is not difficult at all - all you need is a food processor or blender and a little bit of patience for it to chill in the fridge for an hour or so. But I just couldn't decide which ingredient is the best to describe this recipe. Cause the beautiful sour flavour of the blackberries, with a mushy, gelly texture thanks to the chia seeds is just as wonderful as the sweet-saltyness of the peanuts in the crumbly oat base, the whole finished by a quick crack of the cold chocolate drizzle. Oh my!!

I found a recipe of this amazing chia bar on The Rawsome Vegan Life, one of my new fave blogs. I used Emily's recipe as a starting point, and slightly modified it. The berries and the peanut (or almond, if you wish) butter go so incredibly well together... I wanted to finish the whole thing by myself, And the chocolate on top! I used 85% Ecuadorian dark chocolate, which, to be honest is probably is more good for you, than any other treat ever.

And what I love the most, is the no-bake-ness of these bars. You know when its 41 degrees outside (true. story.) and all you wanna do is just forget about the oven? Summer is almost over, but this thing has been my savior - and won't be afraid to make it in the autumn either.

Ingredients

250 g oat flour (that's basically ground rolled oats - grind for yourself in a food processor if needed)
8 tblsp peanut butter
2 tblsp honey or agave syrup or maple syrup
1 tblsp sesame seeds (can be omitted)

250 g blackberries
4 tblsp chia seeds

30 g dark chocolate (min 70%)

Method

Mash the blackberries in a food processor or with a potato masher. Add the chia seeds and mix with a spoon until it's incorporated. Set aside while you make the base.

Grind the oats if needed and add the sesame seeds if using. Add the other ingredients and mix everything with your hands (You can try with a spoon, but it won't happen. Use those hands!). Add more peanut butter if you have some oat flour left on the bottom of the bowl, but you can also add some water if you don't wanna use all your peanut butter.

Use a square plastic container for the assembly - I used a 20 cm x 10 cm one. Put half of the peanut butter mixture into the container and press it down with your hands. It should cover the bottom of the container and be around 1-1,5 cm thick. Spoon the berry mixture on top - it should be already jelly-like thanks to the puffed chia seeds. Now you have to add the top of the sandwich. I normally do this by grabbing chunks of the peanut butter mixture, flatten them with my hands and place them on top of the berry mixture, creating a puzzle-like effect on top. Don't worry if it's not perfect, the chocolate will cover it!

Melt the chocolate in the microwave - melt it so some parts of it are still in full, then mix it with a spoon for some seconds. This way, the mixture won't heat up so much and it won't become grey on top of the sandwich bar.

Put the whole thing in the fridge and wait for 1-2 hours for it to set. Slice up and munch.